The Power Of A Dream
by Jennifer Hart
Summary: When Flashfiction issued a sports challenge during the anniversary of the Mag 7 winning team gold in Atlanta, there was only one sport I could write about.


**TITLE:** The Power Of A Dream  
**GENRE:** General/Humor/Family

**RATING:** G  
**SPOILERS:** Minor for Hiatus  
**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own NCIS, Gymnastics, or the Olympics - I just love watching all of them.

**SPOILERS:** Minor for Hiatus  
**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own NCIS, Gymnastics, or the Olympics – I just love watching all of them.

**SUMMARY:** When Flashfiction issued a sports challenge during the anniversary of the Mag 7 winning team gold in Atlanta, there was only one sport I could write about. This is set 1988, and all the athletes and coaches I mention were real.

0

"Kelly, come on, time for your nap."

The little girl looked up at her mother, her blue eyes wide and pleading. "Please, Mom? Just till it's over?"

Shannon chuckled. They'd sat down together to watch part of NBC's telecast of the 1988 Summer Olympics about a half hour earlier. Ten minutes after that the Women's Team Competition had started and ever since Kelly had been staring at the screen mesmerized.

"Okay, but only till they change sports." Kelly nodded seriously and turned back to the screen, where Chelle Stack was preparing to vault.

"Chelle is fifteen years old and she trains in Houston Texas with Bela Karolyi, together with Brandy Johnson and Phoebe Mills," the commentator explained. "Bela, as most of you remember, coached Mary Lou Retton to the Olympic All-Around title four years ago. What will he do with Chelle here?"

The girl ran down the runway, sprang of the springboard, and twisted over the horse, before planting her feet securely on the mat. Both commentators chuckled.

"Well, she certainly vaults like Mary Lou, doesn't she?" one remarked.

"Mommy, who's Mary Lou?" Kelly asked.

"Mary Lou won the Olympic Gold Medal in gymnastics four years ago," Shannon explained. "The first time someone from the United States had ever done that."

Kelly looked fascinated. "Wow!"

Shannon stood up from the couch. "In fact, I think I have a book about her." She walked over to the shelf on the side wall and searched for a second, then pulled out a red hardcover and walked back to the couch to join Kelly.

"Right here." She turned the picture pages until she came to a good one of Mary Lou, on the balance beam at the Los Angeles Olympics. "That's her there."

Kelly looked at the picture, then back up at Chelle, who was now sitting on the sidelines waiting for her score. She turned her attention back to the picture of Mary Lou. "Are they going to show her on TV?"

"I don't think so, sweetie. Mary Lou doesn't compete anymore," Shannon explained. Kelly looked disappointed and Shannon quickly drew her attention to the gymnasts on the television set. "But if Chelle was coached by the same coach as Mary Lou, I bet she saw her train."

Kelly grinned. "Wow."

"Yeah, wow." Shannon snuggled her daughter closer. "You know, you were there the night Mary Lou won, watching in the stands with Daddy and me."

The little girl looked shocked. "I don't remember that."

"That's because I was still pregnant with you. Eight months. But you were still there, in the stands."

The grin on Kelly's face said it all.

0

Staff Sergeant Jethro Gibbs carefully opened the door and set his stuff down, trying to avoid waking Kelly, who he knew would be sleeping upstairs. He could hear the sound of the washer down the hall from the kitchen and he headed for that direction.

Shannon stood with her back to the door, ironing one of his uniform shirts. Jethro smiled and walked forward.

"Hey, how was your day?" he asked softly, bringing his arm around to puller her closer. She smiled and leaned back into him.

"Oh, pretty good. Yours?"

"Can't complain." Just then there was a resounding thud. Shannon and Jethro stared at each other for a second, before they both bolted for the stairs.

Jethro was the first to reach Kelly's bedroom and rush in. "Kelly?" She was nowhere in sight. "Kelly!"

"Here!" Shannon was already heading for her and Jethro's room as she called out. Jethro followed, in time to see Kelly trying a front flip on the mattress of her parent's double bed.

"Hey, hey!" Both parents rushed forward and Jethro quickly reached forward in time to catch the wayward four-year-old as she went flying forward. "Nadia, take five."

He held her back slightly, checking for any sort of injuries, as Shannon tried to do the same from beside him. Thankfully there didn't appear to be anything apart from a couple of bruises on her knee. Carefully he set her down on the bed, then crouched down in front of her with his wife.

"What were you're doing up there?"

Kelly glanced quickly from her father's face to her mother's. "Just trying what the gymnasts were on TV," she said uncertainly. "Who's Nadia?"

Shannon looked over at her husband and winced. "Oh, boy."

THE END

A/N: The title from this story is taken from a beautiful montage that was done by Heather for one of my best favorite gymnasts of all time, Kerri Strug. If you want to see it, simply paste this URL into the address bar and remove the spaces: http:// www . shanfan . com/videos/montages/strug-shanfan.wmv


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